


Harvest Moon: Fantasy Parade

by chocobobutt



Series: Strifehart Week 2016 [3]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Harvest Moon: Animal Parade
Genre: M/M, Strifehart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 07:20:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7835365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocobobutt/pseuds/chocobobutt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 3 themes: Crossover or Modern</p><p> </p><p>I made a story of Harvest Moon Animal Parade and strifehart. I hope you all like it.  Sorry this is late everyone.</p><p>Enjoy my art of it here: http://chocobobutt.tumblr.com/post/149304179564/day-3-themes-crossover-or-modern-i-made-a-story</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harvest Moon: Fantasy Parade

Nothing had made sense to him. His uncle that he'd never heard of had left him a farm to run by himself in the middle of a little town named Balamb. It was small and by the ocean and he had never heard of it before yet here he was sitting in the back of a wagon from some man he was able to hitch hike from who was also going to the small town. 

The one thing Cloud liked on his trip over was the scenery. He'd always liked country life a bit better then living in the city. He had been a little glad to see the town come into view too. Everything was made in white buildings and it looked straight out of a painting. The place was beautiful. 

The rider took a left then and started to go down a worn trail. It looked like no one was here in years. The closer they got to the building in the distance the more he saw how run down everything was. It was so bad that it ruined the happier mood he had been in. This couldn't be his farm. How was he supposed to take care of that? How was he supposed to even get the money to run it?

The wagon had stopped and the man driving told him this was where he was supposed to get off. On closer look the place wasn't that bad but looked like it might have been through a few storms without much repair. There were a few roofs that needed fixing and windows too. The barns looked alright from the outside but who knew what it looked like in the inside. It wasn't like he'd be able to figure it out either. He didn't really know anything about owning or running a farm. 

Cloud said his goodbyes to the wagon driver and then went in to the main house and put his bag down. He didn't have much but clothes and a few things. There was a box or two that would come in the mail hopefully soon with the rest of his things. 

The place was empty and a bit lonely. He didn't like it much so he went out to explore. In the backyard was a pond. There seemed like a nice fishing pier on there too, that he could work with. He kept going until he came upon a bridge and a waterfall. The setting was beautiful and he wished he had a camera with him.

Not wanting to dwaddle, Cloud kept walking up until he hit a little town. There were a few people working all over the place and he didn't know who to talk to first. He walked around, looking at a few shops he recognized and would probably need to make friends with. One shop he saw was the carpenters house. He decided to go in and when he did he saw a tall man behind the counter. The man had long black hair and a bandanna on top, though he had a bang sticking out in front.

"Ugh..excuse me, are you the head carpenter here?" Cloud asked, finding the man hadn't even noticed him come in. 

"Me? Naw! I'm his son though! I'm working on being in charge of all this. Anythin' I can help ya with, Spike?" 

"The names Cloud, not Spike." Cloud had said rather quickly, crossing his arms as he walked over to the counter. "I just moved in down at the Strife Ranch. It's pretty run down. Do you think you'd be able to fix it? I don't have much gil but I think I could afford maybe for the roofs."

The raven haired man just chuckled a bit and looked the new villager over. "Well I'd say I'd make it free of charge for one date. Y'er pretty cute....but I'm sure pops would hate that so how about I stop by tomorrow to give you an estimate, free estimate. Oh! And I'm Zack by the way."

"I'm not interested in a date anyway...and that sounds fine. Thank you." Cloud stayed a little longer after that but soon left, wanting to explore a bit more. He had asked Zack for some advice on how to get the farm up and running and was told if he went back home and turned left out of his gate and went straight he'd meet another farm. They could maybe teach him what to do. 

With a plan now in motion he headed back home. When he got there he checked out more of the land, seeing a few crops that could be maybe harvested soon. The barn and chicken coop looked nice inside too but empty. His stomach grumbled once he got out of his stable and he was going to head out but he saw a girl in a pink dress looking at his windows. He walked over to her, wondering what she was doing. 

"Ugh, 'scuse me but what are you doing?" He asked, leaning against the front of his house now. 

The girl jumped from the surprise and quickly turned to look at the source of the voice. She was beautiful, not too tall and had hazelnut colored hair that went in a braid down her back and the prettiest green eyes he'd ever seen. "Oh! You must be the new Strife! Welcome to Balamb! I'm Aerith, I live over with my family at the farm down the road." She smiled brightly, making Cloud blush a bit. 

"I'm...Cloud...thanks for the welcome." He mumbled, looking down a bit. It was then he noticed she had a bag with her, a rather large bag. "Um...are you going to town with all that? It looks heavy. Do you need help?"

"Oh this? Oh no it's for you! I figured you wouldn't have much starting off so I thought I'd get some things we don't need and bring them over." She seemed to almost glow as she spoke and Cloud was having a bit of a hard time focusing.

"That's..that's seriously too nice. Are you sure?" He almost wasn't sure if he should trust her. No one back in the city was ever this nice for no reason. 

"Yup! There's a milker, sickle, hammer, axe and fishing pole in there. Oh and some seeds I picked out myself. I figured that would be a good start for you." It seemed she really was just trying to be nice

"That's really nice Aerith but..I don't even know how to use any of that." Cloud's face was getting red again. 

"Oh, well I'm sure I could help teach you." She responded and handed him the big bag. He took it and brought it into his house for later. When he came back out his stomach growled and he looked at his watch. It was getting late and he hadn't eaten all day. "Hungry? I was going to go to the bar after, wanna join me?" 

Cloud nodded and the two headed to town. This was the part he had seen on his ride up. It was beautiful here and there were people walking around all over. He wanted to meet them all but that would come later, first was food. As they got closer to the bar he could smell the food and his mouth began to water. He had a feeling he'd probably be eating here a lot. 

The inside was a typical bar and the girl behind the bar was just as pretty as Aerith. If he combined the two with Zack and all the others he'd seen, it was like this town was filled with good looking people. He felt a little self conscious. 

Aerith took them to the bar to sit, right in front of the other pretty girl. He soon found out her name was Tifa and that the two girls had been friends since they were little. While he looked at a menu, the two girls were off in a conversation of their own so Cloud moved over, going to sit at a corner table instead. He didn't want to interrupt them. Eventually Tifa came over to take his order. He ordered Tomato and Saury stew for himself, having liked fish and tomatoes for a long time. He'd never had that before but it sounded like a fun combination.

As he waited for his food he turned to people gazing. There was a guy who looked like a cowboy drinking with another man maybe twice his size with dark hair and laughing away over something. There were more people spread out and talking in their own conversations. It was crowded and his table was one of the last places empty. Just when he was getting really hungry, two men entered the bar. They looked like a father and son, both very well dressed well for the most part. The father he presumed had on a suit but sandals and the younger looked like he'd never smiled in his whole live, but he was handsome. It was almost unfair how handsome the younger one was. Cloud had just tried to ignore them but after a talk with Tifa they were coming over to him. 

"Well would you look at this! A new Strife in town! I hope you're planning on staying here in Balamb. I'm the Mayor but please call me Laguna, or pops. Whichever you want!" The mayor had said. The man was as annoying to Cloud with how overly excited he was as Zack had been. He could tell they were just friendly guys but he just didn't like that type of attitude. "This is my son, Squall. He's very studious and going to be a mayor himself one day. If you ever need me and I'm not around, he is second in charge!" Laguna pushed his brooding son forward almost into the table. Steel eyes seemed to glare at his father as the man pulled out a chair for Squall, wanting the two to sit down. "Want your usual, Squally?"

"Whatever..." He replied before reluctantly taking a seat. He didn't face Cloud entirely as he sat down, choosing to sit more to the side. His short chestnut hair seemed to be a bit darker in the lighting of the bar but even if his face was partially covered by it he could still see those piercing steel blue eyes. They were just too pretty. Cloud made a move to say something but his stew came. The fish smell was mild due to the tomato and he didn't mind that. It looked delicious and he dug right in. 

The smell of a familiar food made Squall turn Cloud's way and he watched him for a moment. A little grin came over his face at the others choice in meal. "No one usually orders that but me. It used to be my favorite before they started making tomato and squid stew." 

Cloud looked up from his bowl and swallowed what was in his mouth, having some tomato stew on his mouth from his slurping. "Oh yeah? I'm surprised. This is super good. It's fishy but the tomato cancels it out and it's just...I have no words." He laughed a bit and went to rub his mouth on his sleeve but Squall stopped him. He took a handkerchief out of his suit jacket and handed it to Cloud. "Here." 

Cloud thanked him and took it, wiping his face and turning the white material red. He frowned a bit and wasn't sure what to do with it now. "I um...I think I have a washing machine back home..." 

"It's fine. Keep it." Squall said, waving it off as he got a bit more comfortable in his seat, leaning back. "Aerith told us your names Cloud, Cloud strife. I hear you haven't worked a day in the field your whole life. Is that true?"

Cloud nodded and slurped a bit more of the stew broth. He thought it was a bit rude but he couldn't help it. He was too hungry. When he stopped to talk he didn't make eye contact, feeling a bit bad about the whole situation. "Yeah...my uncle just left me this property for nothing but only if I could take care of it. I promised I'd give it a shot but...I've never really planted anything my whole life. I like this town though and I'd wanna stay here." 

"Well I hope you learn fast. Our town isn't big and every bit counts. If you wanna stay here you gotta earn your keep." Squall had said in a bit of a tone with him. Squall loved Balamb and he wasn't going to let a new farmer bring down the town with him. 

Cloud was going to say something but Squall's food came tot he table and though it looked similar, he could see it was different. It was a squid stew after all. "That looks amazing."

Squall nodded and started to eat, minus the slurping. He was much more proper in everything then Cloud was. It was more a reason for him to feel a bit uncomfortable still in this new town. "It is. I suggest you get it next time."

Cloud nodded and went to eat his own meal. After a few moments of silence between them, Squall sighed and got up to get another spoon. He scooped a good amount of stew onto it and held it out to Cloud. "I can tell you wanna taste it, here." 

A smile came over Cloud then, a small smile but a smile nonetheless. He leaned forward on the table and took a bite, licking his lips at the delicious taste. It had a little kick to it. "Thanks! That's so good!"

"Hm." Squall responded with and went back to eating. Time went by and they talked here and there, Squall slowly warming up to Cloud the more they talked. Their meals were finished soon but they stayed, enjoying the company. Neither were too talkative but together they had enough to say for a pleasant conversation. 

A yawn had taken hold of Cloud and that was the signal it was time for him to head home. Surprisingly, Squall had offered to walk home with him, in case he got lost in the dark. Cloud hadn't minded the added company and so the two left, Cloud waving good bye to the few faces he knew. When they reached outside, Cloud felt a nice sea breeze air and sighed contently. "Good food and good company. I think I like this town."

"It can be nice most of the time." Squall chimed in, a little smile of his own as they walked together. They soon were on the bridge, lit up by street lights and Cloud went to the edge, looking over at the water below. 

"You know, I always loved country charm like this. You don't see places like this in the city. Everything is just...cold. The buildings have no life to them and neither do the people."

"It's a good place to go if you want to disappear for awhile. I've been there before. Here everyone knows me but in the city I'm not a mayor's son, I'm just Squall." The brunette came over to the edge, standing next to Cloud and looking at the fish trying to swim upstream under them. "I think country life seems to suit you though. I didn't take you for a city boy when I first met you."

"Yeah...well...before I left my mom helped pick out some working clothes for me...soo.." He chuckled a bit. 

"How sweet. A precious little mama's boy." Squall grinned a bit and messed with Cloud's hair a bit. He put his hands on Cloud's shoulders and turned him so he was facing a house on a hill. "See that place with the light on still? That's me. If you ever need something you can come find me." 

Cloud tried to swat at the hands but stopped when he looked out the house. "It's nice, thanks. I'll try to remember it." He turned, realizing he was much closer to squall now and stepped back a bit, rubbing at his arm. "So..um...I don't have a schedule right? Like I just wake up and do work. I know the carpenter's son is gonna come down tomorrow and Aerith said she'd come help teach me what to do. I guess I should go right to bed soon, huh?"

Squall nodded and didn't react to Cloud getting a bit flustered. "You know for while I almost planned on buying that property from your uncle. I wanted to turn it more into a ranch then a farm. You have a lot of space for livestock." Squall started to walk off again an Cloud quickly followed. "I kinda always wanted to have to wake up early, take care of my animals, maybe have a little dog of my own who'd herd them and someone to come home to."

"Well I mean, you can do some of the now. You can still have a dog and a girlfriend now." Cloud pipped in as he saw his gate coming into view down the dirt road.

"Laguna would be too excited over a dog and I've done the whole dating thing. It wasn't fun." Squall admitted, starting to walk a bit faster now and making it harder for Cloud to keep pace as the shorter one. 

"Then how about you come use my barn? You seem more knowledgeable about livestock then I am and I wouldn't mind the company. It's pretty dead around here." Cloud suggested as the came up to his gate. "I can at least promise if you come over early enough I can welcome you with coffee, or tea..whichever you want." 

Squall stopped at the gate and Cloud had to turn around to see him. "Coffee. If you mean that promise I'll be over before anyone else tomorrow, bright and early."

A smile came over Cloud's face and he held his hand out. "It's a deal then. I'll see you in the morning Squall."

Squall took his hand and shook it, nodding before turning around. "Goodnight Cloud."

"Night Squall." He spoke in return and headed down the path to his house. He was excited for the morning. He'd have people helping him and being at the farm. It would be more lively and he wouldn't be alone. He just hoped he wouldn't make too much of a fool of himself in the morning. 

Just as Squall had said, he was there bright and early in the morning. Today was raining a bit and so he had an umbrella with him. It was a nice feeling to open his door and see Squall's face early in the morning. The man had brought a kettle, tea and coffee with him on his way over. He had figured even if Cloud promised for it that the man hadn't unpacked or didn't have one yet. He was right. He did luckily have cups that he just needed to wash. The two enjoyed their morning drinks and went off to really look at the barns before the others came.

It was the start of a long friendship. Every day after the first, Squall would come over for coffee and help out with the farm. Eventually there was a chicken Cloud bought and it was treated like a king between the two men. More chicken came after and then a cow and a horse. The barn was starting to get full just like Squall had wanted and Cloud didn't feel alone at the farm anymore.


End file.
